1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to machining methods and apparatus, and more particularly to machining methods and apparatus that employ lasers in the cutting, shaping, and finishing of solid materials, and still more particularly to a method and apparatus for high power processing of a solid workpiece rotated on a centrifuge that facilitates the simultaneous shaping of the workpiece through the selective removal of material and the accretion/formation of a second article of manufacture from the material tangentially ejected from the workpiece.
2. Background Art
The use of lasers in machining practices is well known. Additionally, shaping, cutting, and finishing a workpiece by rotating the workpiece rapidly while applying a tool to the workpiece is well known. The common lathe is an example of apparatus that works in this fashion. Variations on the lathe that employ high powered pulsed radiation as a cutting or shaping force are also known. Several contemporary patents show the several uses made of lasers that rotate relative to a workpiece, or visa versa, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,726, to Okuda, which teaches a method of shaping and smoothing workpiece by applying a laser beam to a rotating workpiece tangential to the path of rotation with a suitable tolerance while the light is shifted relative to the workpiece. The irradiated portion of the workpiece is melted and the molten material is removed by gas air or jet. A tool is employed to work the grooved surface after it has been heated by the laser and the debris is removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,901, to Binder, et al., discloses a laser cutting and welding machine having two CO2 lasers producing laser beams and a guiding and reorienting system for directing the laser beam to a workpiece. The workpiece is fixed and the lasers rotate about the workpiece. No debris removal means are discussed or disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,565, to Galel, teaches a cutting apparatus that employs real time in-process data collection to determine the contour and position of the interface between dissimilar layers of material. A control system is automatically programmed, based on the determined contour and position of the interface, to employ a linear motion device to autonomously control the motion of a cutter through a conventional motion control system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,213, to Amiguet et al., shows a wheel style recognition system for identifying and orienting wheel workpieces. It uses lasers to locate identification and starting point marks on a wheel. The systems include a wheel style recognition station, a conveyor for delivering a wheel workpiece to the wheel style recognition station, and a wheel orientation sensor that senses the radial orientation of the wheel workpiece on the wheel style recognition station, and generates a radial orientation signal. A wheel mapping sensor scans the wheel workpiece and generates a wheel style mapping signal pattern, while the wheel workpiece is rotated at a steady rate of rotation. A control unit compares the wheel style mapping signal pattern with at least one reference wheel style mapping signal pattern.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,595, to Massee, shows an apparatus for working a workpiece which includes drive means for rotating a carrier about an axis of rotation and a tool for working the workpiece. The apparatus further includes tool moving means for moving the tool in an x-direction and a y-direction with respect to the drive means, and a control unit comprising a memory for one or more control programs for controlling the moving means in accordance with a control program, in such a manner that the tool will follow one or more desired paths for working the workpiece. Laser beams are employed to scan and measure the workpiece. If a difference is detected between a stored apparatus parameter and the measured ones, then each control program is adapted so that the tool will still follow the desired paths.
U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 20050045607, by Tenaglia, et al., shows a method and apparatus for improving properties of a solid material by applying shockwaves to the material. Laser shock processing is used to provide the shockwaves. The method includes applying a liquid energy-absorbing overlay, which is resistant to erosion and dissolution by a transparent water overlay and which is resistant to drying to a portion of the surface of the solid material and then applying a transparent overlay to the coated portion of the solid material. A pulse of coherent laser energy is directed to the coated portion of the solid material to create a shockwave. At least a portion of the unspent energy-absorbing overlay can be reused in situ at a further laser treatment location and/or recovered for later use.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventor is aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicant's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein. Specifically, none of the known prior art and/or prior art references show a method of shaping, cutting, and finishing solid material by the process described in the following summary and detailed description of the instant invention.